India's warehousing landscape is evolving driven by globalization, urbanization and the booming $80 billion e-commerce market. The integration of smart technology solutions is reshaping traditional warehouses, transforming them into highly efficient, technology-driven facilities. Additionally, wearable technologies are revolutionizing the warehouse industry, giving workers instant access to critical information, improving workflow, and raising overall productivity.
The Indian warehousing sector is growing rapidly, while the government is trying to reduce logistics costs. To achieve this, digital transformation is essential. The crucial process of digitalization involves adopting cutting-edge solutions that include both hardware and software. This will include printers, mobile devices, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and advanced software, among others, to enable greater operational efficiency and accuracy.
Wearables at work
Wearable barcode technology has been around since about 2010, and was originally created to provide a hands-free option for lifting heavy and bulky loads. This concept helped improve work efficiency while reducing repetitive movements to pick up and put down portable scanners. As technology improves, so do the capabilities of wearable devices. Gone are the days of being attached to the station. Wearables have also improved from being bulky and unwieldy to being comfortable, Wi-Fi-capable, and battery-powered. It is also necessary for wearable devices to be powered by a familiar operating system (OS) such as Android to reduce the training time required. This allows companies to achieve high productivity levels in the shortest possible time after introducing the technology.
Improve the mobile ecosystem
While mobile devices can help improve the speed and accuracy of warehouse workflows, they do not provide a hands-free experience for workers. Freeing up workers' hands will greatly improve their productivity as they are now able to pick up or move items without having to constantly put down their mobile devices or even risk misplacing them. This applies if operating heavy machinery such as forklifts, which will require them to have “both hands on the wheel” for safety reasons.
The future of wearable devices
The importance of rugged wearables in the storage sector in India is underscored by the promising trajectory for the future of wearable technology. Warehouses are facing significant pressure to embrace digitalisation, enhance flexibility, increase productivity and prioritize safety. Various types of rugged wearable devices, such as wrist scanners, which feature an ergonomic and ergonomic design, are revolutionizing warehousing operations by providing hands-free functionality. Equipped to scan barcodes and RFID tags, ring scanners provide hands-free navigation and are suitable for operation in a variety of weather conditions. Head-mounted displays play a pivotal role in increasing task efficiency and accuracy by overlaying contextual information in workers' field of vision in real-time, providing augmented reality functionality for warehouse applications.
In a fast-paced industry like warehousing, it is crucial that technology acts as an enabling force rather than a barrier to success. The complexity of the tools should not necessitate resource-intensive training, which can hinder contributions and potentially lead to high staff turnover. As the industry moves forward, the integration of wearable technology is emerging as a transformative force, promising to redefine how warehouses operate and empower their workforces for sustainable success.
(This article was authored by Subramaniam Thirupathi, Country Leader for India and Subcontinent, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific)
